Italy high court upholds four-year sentence on veteran banker Geronzi

ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s highest court on Friday upheld a four-year jail sentence on the former chairman of Generali Cesare Geronzi for his role in the 2003 bankruptcy of food company Cirio.

The decision, by the Rome-based Court of Cassation, is final and cannot be appealed. However, three of the four years will be wiped out under a national amnesty and Geronzi, a symbol of old-style Italian capitalism, will not actually serve any jail time because of his age, 82.

In April 2015 an appeals court had handed Geronzi a four- year prison sentence for bankruptcy, confirming the previous sentence in a long court battle that started in 2003.

Geronzi’s lawyers over the years have argued that he had no specific powers over Cirio at the time of its bankruptcy, when he was at the helm of lender Capitalia, and that he had acted correctly.

The Rome Court of Cassation also ordered on Friday a new trial for Cirio’s ex-chief, Sergio Cragnotti, who was handed a sentence of eight years and eight months in 2015.